Hot Club Swing musicians from around Puget Sound are coming together to celebrate Django Reinhardt’s 116th birthday! Two of the top Django bands from the Northwest will each play a set, and we’ll close out the night by combining both bands for an epic grand finale.

Django was an itinerant Romani guitarist who earned international acclaim in the 1930’s. Many of his compositions became jazz classics and he is considered one of the top guitar soloists of all time. Duke Ellington called Django “the most creative jazz musician to originate anywhere outside the United States.” Decades later, Jerry Garcia said, “Nobody has really come to the state that he was playing at…nobody plays with the whole fullness of expression that Django had.”

Combo Du Jour is a quartet led by Ryan Hoffman and Jessica Logan. Their repertoire is a musical melange of Django Reinhardt style hot club jazz, French musette, Brazilian choro, and a dash of Argentinian tango! Ranger and the ‘Re-Arrangers’ evoke the spirit of a Paris cafe and the raucous energy of a Romani campsite. Says violinist Ranger Sciacca: “Our goal is to feature as many great musicians and different instruments as we can!”